TRIP TO THE CIRCUS

Last week I won 4 free tickets to the circus. I called Mom and asked her if she could go with us.

Since there were 4 tickets I asked her if she wanted to bring her friend Florence with us. After church Sunday Mom took us out to lunch and then we picked up Florence and went to the Rose Arena. Outside the entrance there were people protesting the circus. They were using megaphones and talking about how cruel Ringling Bros. is to the elephants and other animal. I wonder if they are pro abortion? Any way we got great seats and the show was amazing. The best part was watching Mom and Florence. Neither had been to the circus since their kids were little and they were enjoying every minute of it. I could hear Florence squeal with excitement during some of the high wire acts and Mom never stopped looking at the rings. I am so very glad we were able to take them with us to the circus. Another memory made.

The picture Jerry took makes me look like I'm about 400 lbs. While I'm not 400 lbs there were some people in front of us who must have been at least 400 lbs. I felt so sorry for them because I'm pretty sure they didn't fit in the seats very well and it was hard for them to move around in the aisles. The worst part is that they were pretty young 25-30 years old.

In a world where how you look is very important it's hard to be overweight. I have been pretty lucky that most people have known me skinny and fat. Most of the time when we see a really fat person we don't think "Oh that poor person" We almost always think "What a lazy slob". People are fat for lots of reasons. Of course the main reason is that we eat to much and don't exercise enough. But having been 105 lbs and then weighing 2x's as much I don't really eat any more now than I did when I was 105.

I need to work on having more compassion for people. Jerry and I saw a lady dressed in business type clothes holding a sign saying she needed money for gas. Across the street we saw a man dressed more like a bum playing a guitar. Jerry said," Should we give her some money?" I said, "No." We have all been burned by beggars and scam artists. We have given money to guy for gas and the next week across town ran into the same guy with the same line. I know that Jesus wanted us to help those who need help but how do we know who really needs help and who's just pretending. Do we help everyone so that we don't ignore those who need help. Wouldn't that encourage the cheaters? I would appreciate hearing your opinion on this. We have both been struggling with this issue for years and now with the economy more people are in need.

Hope you all have a great day and remember YOUR NEVER TO OLD TO ENJOY THE CIRCUS!